The Cousin Falsehood
by ennaxxor
Summary: Leonard and Penny find themselves enjoying Stuart's cousin's wedding.


**Disclaimer:** Obviously, I don't own "The Big Bang Theory." Actually, I don't own very much, period. To sue me would be the definition of a frivolous lawsuit.

**A/N: **My first fic for Big Bang! I've recently become obsessed, and fell in love with Leonard/Penny, so of course fic had to follow. Thanks to Amber for reading it over!

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Penny scooted her chair closer to Leonard's as she watched the other wedding guests dance and mingle. She rested her head against his shoulder and his left hand took her right, entwining their fingers, and slowly rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand.

"This isn't so bad, is it?" she asked, looking up at him.

"It'd be better if Stuart hadn't told everyone I was your cousin."

"He didn't tell everyone," Penny tried to protest, but at that moment an older woman that Penny vaguely remembered meeting earlier passed by, giving the two of them a disapproving look. Penny buried her face into Leonard's shoulder, stifling her laughter.

"We can try telling people you're my second cousin," she suggested, once the woman was safely out of earshot.

"Because that's so much better."

"At least it's legal," she said with a shrug. "I think." She turned back to watch the rest of the guests again and spotted Stuart on the other side of the banquet hall.

"Looks like my 'date' has found someone else," she said, gesturing with her free hand to where Stuart was talking to one of the bridesmaids.

"Wasn't that another one of his cousins?"

"Oh. Maybe. Poor guy."

Just then the newly married couple glided across the dance floor in front of them, and Penny couldn't help but smile as she watched them.

"Do you want to dance?"

"What?" Penny sat up, surprised. "I didn't think you danced."

Leonard shrugged.

"It's not that I can't dance, it's just that I prefer not to. And, well, especially after the disaster that was my senior prom -"

"Oh yeah, Wolowitz told me about that," Penny cut in with a sympathetic wince.

"- I've tried to avoid it." Leonard finished. "Hold on, what did he tell you?"

"Let's just say I don't blame you for avoiding it."

He frowned.

"Look, if you don't want to dance -"

"No, no, I do!" Penny said, quickly reassuring him. "I'd love to dance with you."

Leonard smiled, relieved. The two of them stood up, still holding hands, and walked to the dance floor. They stopped and faced each other for a moment, unsure of how to begin, until Penny lifted her left hand to rest on Leonard's shoulder, and he wrapped his right arm around her waist.

The first few steps were awkward, and Penny was glad she was wearing closed-toed shoes. Leonard was tense and kept glancing down at his feet.

"Relax, honey," Penny said with a smile, gently rubbing his shoulder.

"Right, sorry."

Sensing that he needed a little more encouragement, Penny moved her hand from his shoulder to the back of his neck and pulled him down for brief kiss.

"Better?" she asked, pulling back.

Leonard smiled, but it turned to a grimace when he saw something over her shoulder.

"Don't look now, but I think Stuart's grandma is a little upset with us."

Penny waited a few steps until they had turned around, then spotted the old woman behind Leonard. She looked scandalized and was talking a mile a minute to another woman next to her - one of Stuart's aunts? Stuart had introduced Penny to so many people that night, she had quickly given up on trying to remember who they were. Besides, it wasn't like she'd ever see them again.

"Want to really give them something to talk about?" Penny asked, turning back to Leonard with a mischievous grin on her face.

Leonard raised his eyebrows.

"What did you have in mind?"

Penny guided his left hand so it was also on her waist, then raised her right hand to the gentle curls on the back of his head, stepping forward at the same time to eliminate the distance between them. Taking the hint, Leonard tightened his hold around her and leaned in for another kiss, capturing her bottom lip between his own.

The kiss was longer and deeper than the first. Penny slipped her tongue into his mouth, and she smiled when she felt more than heard him moan.

Her right hand still in his hair, Penny dropped her left hand to splay across his stomach, feeling the heat from his skin through his thin dress shirt. Leonard's hands moved restlessly at her waist; they'd start to drift upward, then return safely to their original position.

Reluctantly, Penny eventually pulled back from the kiss, but rested her forehead against his, not wanting to break more contact than necessary.

"Want to find someplace a little more private?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "I remember seeing a promising coat closet down the hallway."

"Oh God, yes."

As they crossed the hallway, Penny caught a glimpse of Stuart, who now appeared to be in some sort of heated discussion with his grandma. She made a mental note to thank him later for the invitation; this was certainly shaping up to be better than she'd expected.


End file.
